Li Wen

Galactic Calendar.

Year 225, December 28.

Huaxia Kingdom.

Qingshi No.3 High School.

Under the blazing sun, a group of high school students in matching uniforms gathered on a track and field.

Today was the final physical level test of the semester for Qingshi No.3 High School's senior year.

The wide track was lined with all kinds of instruments.

Under the invigilators' watchful eyes, the entire class of Senior (21) lined up in front of the instruments for testing.

Class 21 wasn't large—just over forty students.

When the school first formed its classes, only twenty were originally planned.

The extra Class 21 naturally consisted of those who hadn't met the admission cutoff but got in through various means.

Some used money, others relied on connections.

Li Wen belonged to the former.

His family had tightened their belts to scrape together fifty thousand Huaxia dollars, sending him to the county's third public high school.

"Li Wen!"

"Physical composite level: 6.0."

A mechanical voice announced the result of a lean boy who had just finished his physical test.

"Only 6.0?" Hearing the mechanical voice, Li Wen's eyes dimmed.

He trained hard every single day, yet as time passed, the gap between him and the top students in his class only widened.

If this kept up, forget getting into a prestigious university—even the lowest-tier ones would be a stretch.

In previous years, the minimum registration requirement for martial arts universities was a physical level of 7.0. That meant he didn't even qualify to apply.

Was he really destined to walk the path of letters, just like his name suggested?

For a moment, Li Wen's mind conjured the hopeful, earnest gaze of his parents.

With his middle school grades, he never would have made it into Qingshi No.3's martial arts class. It was only because his parents scrimped and saved that he got in.

He had thought that as long as he worked hard enough, he could rise above the rest.

But after two and a half years, he had come to accept one thing: some things couldn't be achieved through hard work alone.

Efficiently developing the body required all kinds of nourishing medicines—and that took a lot of money.

The school did distribute these medicines for free, but in limited quantities, and not equally—they were allocated based on rankings.

So, one step slow meant every step slow.

It wasn't that the school was unwilling to give more; ultimately, resources were limited.

Good steel had to be used for the blade.

This world wasn't an ordinary one. It was fraught with dangers.

Demonic beasts ran rampant, and humanity was on the decline.

Limited resources naturally had to be tilted more toward those with talent.

What frustrated Li Wen was that if he gave up the martial path, with how absurdly difficult the liberal arts exams had become, he would likely spend his life scraping by at the bottom.

Just like his parents now—working themselves to the bone just to put food on the table.

"Ring~"

Time flew by, and it was already afternoon dismissal.

Li Wen slung his backpack over his shoulder and walked out of the school gate alone.

In the entire Class 21, aside from him, everyone else came from families that were either wealthy or influential.

This made Li Wen stand out starkly, an outsider among them.

For two and a half years, he had been almost entirely alone.

He swiped his student card at the front door of the bus and found a seat in the corner.

The bus stopped at station after station. Li Wen didn't get off until the final stop.

By then, the surroundings had completely changed—everywhere were dilapidated, old buildings.

Li Wen walked familiarly to one of the buildings and began climbing the dim staircase step by step.

For a remote, rundown building like this, an elevator was out of the question.

In the cramped stairwell, Li Wen occasionally ran into neighbors coming and going.

Having lived here for so many years, they all basically knew each other. Amid the exchange of greetings, Li Wen stopped at the fifteenth floor.

1503 was the home he had lived in for seventeen—no, to be precise, nearly eighteen years.

Because today was his eighteenth birthday.

He took out his key, opened the door, and stepped inside.

The living room wasn't large, just over twenty square meters.

Facing him was a bookshelf, cluttered with all sorts of items.

Behind the bookshelf sat a fabric sofa—old, but still very clean and tidy.

Across from the sofa was a table, and on it rested a beautifully packaged cake.

Through the transparent cake box, he could easily see a single candle shaped like the number "18" stuck into the cake.

"Ah Wen, you're back?" Hearing the door open, his mother Wang Juan came out wearing an apron and holding a spatula.

"Mom!" Li Wen pulled his gaze away from the cake and looked at the woman before him, whose hair was already streaked with gray. His nose stung slightly. "You didn't have to buy a cake."

"A cake costs next to nothing. Today is your eighteenth birthday, Ah Wen—it means after today, you're an adult."

Wang Juan waved the spatula in her hand. "Go take a shower first. The food will be ready soon. I made your favorite braised lion's head meatballs."

"Mm!" Li Wen swallowed the words that were on the tip of his tongue and nodded firmly.

He put down his schoolbag and headed for the bathroom.

The afternoon's physical fitness test had long since soaked his clothes through with sweat. Though they had dried by now, they still clung uncomfortably to his skin.

After stripping off all his clothes, Li Wen adjusted the water to a suitable temperature and let the droplets spray down over him.

The warm water quickly enveloped him, flowing along the faint lines of his torso.

He closed his eyes, tilted his head back, and silently let the warm water wash over his face—this was the most relaxing moment of Li Wen's day.

By the time he finished washing and came out, his mother Wang Juan had already finished cooking.

On the living room table were four dishes and one soup, neatly arranged.

Right in the center sat the braised lion's head meatballs, Li Wen's favorite.

The enticing aroma hit him, making his mouth water.

"Ah Wen, eat while it's hot. Your dad just told me he'll probably need another ten or so minutes to get here." Wang Juan handed the bowl and chopsticks to Li Wen.

"I'm not in a hurry. I'll wait for Dad to come back so we can eat together." Li Wen took the bowl and chopsticks but set them back on the table.

"Then at least have one lion's head meatball while you wait, or it'll get cold and won't taste as good." As she spoke, Wang Juan picked up a meatball and placed it in Li Wen's bowl.

"Mm, thanks, Mom." The afternoon's physical test had already drained Li Wen, and since this was his favorite food, he didn't insist too much in his hunger.

Ten minutes later, Li Wen's father Li Hong came home. Exhaustion was clearly visible in his eyes, yet a smile still spread across his face. "Ah Wen, happy birthday!"

With that, he handed a gift box he was carrying to Li Wen.

"Thanks, Dad!" Li Wen quickly stood up and took the box from Li Hong.

After dinner, the family of three sat together.

The cake box had been removed. Li Hong picked up a lighter and lit the birthday candle.

"Ah Wen, make a wish~" Wang Juan turned off the living room light, sat down, and smiled happily.

"Mm~" Li Wen nodded and closed his eyes.

Just as the thought of his wish arose, he felt a dizzying spin, and countless memories came flooding in from nowhere.

The memories turned into images—scenes from another Li Wen's eighteen years of life.

After eighteen years, he had finally awakened the wisdom of his past life.

"So I've finished another eighteen years..." Li Wen murmured to himself.

Fast as lightning—from the moment the memories appeared to when Li Wen fully absorbed them—it was but an instant.

To his parents, Li Wen had only closed his eyes for a few seconds.

But when he opened them again, he was stunned. Lines of text appeared before his eyes:

[Name: Li Wen]
[Age: 18]
[Occupation: To Be Unlocked]